New Faces Emerge for LDP In Wake of Resounding Loss

TOKYO -- The Liberal Democratic Party, shoved out of office after 54 years of nearly uninterrupted rule, will now seek new faces as it looks to repair its image and replace defeated leaders.

Voters overwhelmingly rejected Prime Minister Taro Aso's party Sunday, sweeping the Democratic Party of Japan into power with a landslide victory. Mr. Aso resigned Sunday as LDP chief.

Disillusioned by the party's blunders and inability to pull Japan out of a deep economic slump, even traditional supporters -- the elderly, rural voters and the construction industry -- declined to back LDP politicians. Many LDP heavyweights, including a handful of prominent former cabinet members, lost their seats to untested, often younger, DPJ candidates.

ENLARGE

Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso leaves his party headquarters in Tokyo late Sunday after speaking to journalists about the landslide election loss for the ruling Liberal Democrats. He resigned his leadership of the party.
Reuters

The punishment even extended to some politicians seen as promising future LDP leaders. Yuriko Koike, the first woman to serve as Japan's defense minister, lost her local race. Another prominent LDP woman, Seiko Noda, lost to her DPJ opponent in her district in Gifu prefecture in central Japan.

The losses have resulted in a power vacuum at the top of the party. The new leaders that emerge will need to sharpen the party's image, which has become muddled after years in power.

"I don't feel like the party has had a real discussion about what it represents now," said Takahiro Suzuki, secretary-general at Think Tank 2005 Japan, a policy institute affiliated with the LDP. "Until we figure out what are our core political values, we aren't doing any good to anyone."

Political analysts expect the LDP to position itself as a conservative alternative to the more-liberal DPJ, reminding voters that the new ruling party will expand social programs despite Japan's ballooning debt. Also, the LDP is likely to espouse a more muscular foreign policy in a nod to the right wing of its party. Analysts say such a move could be a healthy step toward the give-and-take of a true two-party system, something Japan has lacked.

Observers said Yoichi Masuzoe, Japan's minister of health, labor and welfare, is one potential LDP leader. Prior to his political career, Mr. Masuzoe, 60 years old, was an academic specializing in international politics. He parlayed that into a career as a popular television commentator. Mr. Masuzoe also has written a series of books about caring for his mother, who suffered from dementia.

His track record as health minister has been mixed. He acted swiftly to prepare Japan for the H1N1 influenza, but he has stumbled in trying to reform a national pension system burdened by fraud and mismanagement. Mr. Masuzoe didn't run in Sunday's election because he has a seat in the upper house of parliament.

"Mr. Masuzoe is being talked about, but a lot depends on his ability to unify the party at this moment," said Mr. Suzuki.

Two other LDP politicians seen as possible candidates to succeed Mr. Aso won their respective races Sunday: Nobuteru Ishihara, a former reporter who is the son of nationalist Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara, and current agriculture minister Shigeru Ishiba.

Minoru Morita, a Tokyo-based political analyst, said the LDP's line of failed prime ministers is the result of the party's whatever-it-takes approach to maintaining power. Instead of seeking out new leaders, the party stuck to loyalists who waited their turn.

"They've continually failed by putting out leaders not supported by the people," said Mr. Morita. "There still isn't awareness within the party to thrust a young leader to the front. It's still a party dictated by age and experience."

Mr. Morita sees Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japan's 47-year-old economics and fiscal-policy minister, as a future leader of the party. He serves in the upper house of parliament.

Mr. Hayashi, who speaks fluent English, has a law degree from Tokyo University and a graduate degree from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He is considered well-versed in financial policy and served briefly as defense minister.

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